The presence of a statue of Bacchus in the niche in the rear wall of the cella is easily explained; this divinity was identified with Osiris. Two ears are moulded in the stucco beside the niche, symbolic of the listening of the god to the prayers of his worshippers. Against the west wall of the colonnade, near the corners, were two pedestals, with statues of female divinities about one half life size. At the right was Isis, in archaic Greek costume, with the inscription: _L. Caecilius Phoebus posuit l[oco] d[ato] d[ecurionum] d[ecreto]_, 'Set up by Lucius Caecilius Phoebus, in a place granted by a decree of the city council'; the name indicates that the donor was a freedman. The other statue, at the left, represents Venus drying her hair after the bath; it is of a common type and possesses small value as a work of art, yet is of interest because of the well preserved painting and gilding. Venus, as many other goddesses, was identified with Isis. In the same corner with the statue of Venus, against the south wall, stood the herm of Gaius Norbanus Sorex, a marble pillar with a bronze head. According to the inscription, he was an actor who played the second part (_secundarum, sc. partium_), and was also magister of the suburb Pagus Augustus Felix. He was probably a generous supporter of the temple. A duplicate of the herm is found in the Eumachia building, to which also he may have made a contribution. The low social standing of the various benefactors of the temple is noteworthy; it indicates in what circles the worship of the Egyptian divinities found its adherents. As yet this was by no means an aristocratic cult, although it became such later, especially after the time of Hadrian. While the Greek and Roman gods were honored chiefly at their festivals, the Egyptian divinities demanded worship every day, indeed several times a day. The early service, the 'opening of the temple,' is described by Apuleius, who was probably admitted to the college of the Servants of Isis in Rome in the time of the Antonines, and wrote about 160 A.D. Before daybreak the priest went into the temple by the side entrance and threw back the great doors, which were fastened on the inside. White linen curtains were hung across the doorway, shielding the interior from view. Now the street gate of the court was opened; the thronging multitude of the devout streamed in and took their places in front of the temple. The curtains were drawn aside and the image of the goddess was presented to the gaze of her worshippers, who greeted her with prayers and shaking of the sistrum, a musical rattle, the use of which was characteristic of the worship of the Egyptian gods. For a time they remained sitting, engaged in prayer and in the contemplation of the divinity; an hour after daybreak the service was closed with an invocation to the newly risen sun. This description throws light on the purpose of the bench in front of the shrine of Harpocrates.